Fighting the flu all week, Harrisburg played the part Friday night in a sluggish first half against Herrin.

Sickness or not, Herrin didn't care, making a 15-7 second quarter run and taking a 23-22 lead into the lockeroom.

It was the first time this season Harrisburg had been down at the half and if Eli Taborn-Scott had his say about it, it was going to be the last.

Fueled by a nine-point third quarter from the 6-foot-5 junior forward, including six straight to start the period, Harrisburg found its footing and went on to post a 59-36 victory to improve to 10-0 on the year.

While Harrisburg head coach Randy Smithpeters was happy with the win, it wasn't the first thought on his forefront.

Harrisburg, like Herrin, will open play later this week in the 48th Annual Eldorado Holiday Tournament. The two teams met in the championship game a year ago and while the Bulldogs and Tigers are seeded in two different brackets, the variables remain the same for Smithpeters.

"There is your No. 6 seed in the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and that's what it's going to be like (this week) in the EHT, a six-seed playing a one and we're behind at halftime," Smithpeters said.

The longtime Harrisburg head coach complimented Herrin and its game plan, but said overall it was a good learning experience for his Bullldogs.

"We came out firing the three's and they weren't falling and we kept firing the three. Hopefully we learned when that game plan isn't working we have to go to an alternative game and we did that in the second half. We attacked the basket a lot more, we were more patient and I believed made Herrin defend much better."

Harrisburg went 3-of-15 from the field in the second quarter, including 0-9 in the second quarter and 1-for-11 in the first half.

"A week ago last Saturday, every shot we put up tonight would have went in," Smithpeters added. "(Tonight), practically none of them went in and we have to adjust to that. So, good to get a lesson like that and still win."

Herrin head coach Irv Lukens was content with the game plan, but said the Tigers just feel short on the offensive end of things.

"I'm happy with the way we played," Lukens said. "I thought we played very hard. It was a very exciting first half, being able to stay with them, but we wanted to control the tempo and I felt like we did, so we came in with the right game plan, we just feel short on the offensive side of things."

Capel Henshaw and Taborn-Scott led the Bulldogs in scoring as Henshaw popped off for for a game-high 17 points, while Taborn-Scott followed suit with 17 points.

Page 2 of 3 - Herrin (3-6, 1-2) was led in scoring by Justin Lukens, who had eight points, six of which came in the first half.

Adding to the totals for Harrisburg were Tyler Smithpeters and Bahari Amaya who each netted nine.

Herrin took a quick 3-0 lead on Harrisburg and trailed by as many as nine in the game before making a comeback that came to fruition in the second quarter when Dylan Chrostoski's bucket gave Herrin a 21-20 lead with 3:27 to play. That bucket was followed by a Butler basket with 2:40 to play that gave the Tigers a 23-20 advantage.

Leading by just one at halftime, Harrisburg fed Taborn-Scott early and often out of the break, getting six straight points as Harrisburg built a 29-23 lead and never looked back.

"I thought our press was good all night long," Smithpeters said. "And there are some things we want to tweak in it and get a little better at, but hopefully we learned to adjust our game to the way things are going."

Harrisburg will open up Eldorado Holiday Tournament play on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. against Hardin County. Herrin follows Harrisburg's game, playing Carmi-White County at 3:15 p.m.